


The Ladies of Oz

by XVnot15



Category: Gelphie - Fandom, Wicked - Schwartz/Holzman
Genre: F/F, Gelphie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-23 04:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XVnot15/pseuds/XVnot15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many years ago I came across a wonderful musical in a fringe Theatre in London UK, based on the lives of the Ladies of Llangollen, two young women who eloped from Ireland to Wales and made a life together in the early 1800's. I thought the songs would be perfect for a little Gelphie fic. Sorry that I can't let you in on the tune. Please be gentle this is my first fanfic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. She Looks Good to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Do not upload copies of any of my fanfic anywhere online. I do not give permission for my work to be archived anywhere other than my own AO3 account, my own FF.Net account, Passion & Perfection, Royal Academy of Bards and my personal journalling accounts.

Title:  **She Looks Good To Me**

Disclaimer: These characters are property of L F Baum/ Gregory Maguire etc. And the song "You Look Good To Me" is from the fringe musical "The Ladies" by Sandra Freeman.

Fandom:  Wicked

Pairing:  Elphaba/Galinda  
Rating: PG   
Subject:(musical verse - especially that Elphaba Looks like Idina)   
Summary: Galinda sings a little ditty that Elphaba overhears, and then joins.  
 _A/N Many years ago I came across a wonderful musical in a fringe Theatre in South London UK, based on the lives of the Ladies of Llangollen, two young women who eloped from Ireland to Wales and made a life together in the early 1800's. I thought one of the songs would be perfect for a little Gelphie fic. Sorry that I can't let you in on the tune. Please be gentle this is my first fanfic._   
  
  
  
  
Galinda stormed into the room, slamming the door behind her in a fit of rage. She continued her tantrum by throwing her books and bags on her bed ignoring the disarray thus created as a testament to her distraught condition and the extremity of her feelings.   
  
"Those insufferable... closed minded... foolish.." Galinda paced rapidly throwing these comments to the empty room like missiles from a catapult. Finally she came to a halt looking out the window at the darkening sky.   
  
"We have an entire city lauded for its beauty just because of its emerald colour, what is it that blinds them all to her emerald beauty?" She sighed and sat dejectedly on the narrow window seat, and taking a breath, Galinda began to softly sing.   
  
_"She looks good to me,  
She looks so good to me.   
She looks right for me,   
She looks so right for me.   
  
There's a fine easy grace,   
To the line of her face.   
The charm of her smile,   
Can't fail to beguile.   
It's the curve of her cheek,   
That makes me quite weak.   
  
She looks good to me,   
She looks so good to me.   
She looks right for me,   
She looks so right for me." _  
  
Heaving another sigh, she tilted her head against the window pane.   
  
"Oh, Elphie, am I the only one who sees how beautiful you are?"   
  
She continued to sit in silence, watching as a light rain began to fall and the only sound she heard was the patter of the raindrops on the window.   
  
On the other side of the room a gentle click sounded as the door to the bathroom opened and Elphaba looked over at the golden haired girl on the window seat. She could hardly believe what she'd heard, had Galinda known she was in the other room? Was she teasing her, toying with her for her own upper-class amusement?   
  
As she moved further into the room, Elphaba caught site of Galinda's face and the glistening tracks of her silent tears. At the site of her friend’s emotion, she stepped closer and began to sing quietly.   
  
_"She looks good to me,  
She looks so good to me..."_   
  
With a gasp Galinda jumped to her feet looking at Elphaba as she continued toward the window.   
  
"Elphie? You heard?"   
  
With a soft smile Elphaba reached Galinda and took her small hands into her larger ones, as she continued to sing.   
  
_"You look right for me,  
You look so right for me."_   
  
And with the last word, looking into shining blue eyes, the emerald beauty gently kissed the pale pink lips of the one who was __**so right for her.**

__

 


	2. Everybody Needs a Teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glinda sings a little ditty while contemplating her life and relationship with Elphie.

**Everybody Needs A Teacher**  
Rating:PG ?   
Subject:(musical verse - especially that Elphaba Looks like Idina)   
Author: XV   
Disclaimer: "These characters are property of L F Baum/ Gregory Maguire" etc. And the song "Everybody Needs A Teacher" is from the fringe musical "The Ladies", by Sandra Freeman. Of course Elphaba's name is substituted for the original Elanore.

 

A/N Many years ago I came across a wonderful musical in a fringe Theatre in South London UK, based on the lives of the Ladies of Llangollen, two young women who eloped from Ireland to Wales and made a life together in the early 1800's. I thought several of the songs would be perfect for a little Gelphie fic, you may even consider this a crossover with the musical The Ladies. Sorry that I can't let you in on the tune.   
  
  
Glinda sat at the desk in the room she shared with Elphaba, a truly stunned expression on her face. She reached for the paper in front of her and read the comments on it once again.

 **' A+'**   _'Truly Excellent Work. One was not expecting this of a young lady of breeding such as yourself, but it is apparent that you have been applying yourself and I may say you may very well be on your way to developing something of a brain.'_ _  
 _Professor Binkins Faculty of Magical History._  
  
_ An A+!!  In a boring old subject like Magical History?!!!  
  
She, Galinda Upland of the Arduennes, had achieved, well the unachievable, the unexpected and perhaps even the unbelievable. No one ever thought she was more than lace and frills and a pretty face, not even herself, for that was all she had ever been required to be. To her parents she was merely an ornament, a necessary bauble to be polished, perfected and then traded at the appropriate time, to the appropriate buyer, for the appropriate recompense and then not to be considered ever after.  
  
No one at home ever bothered to ask her opinion, as she wasn't expected to have one. No one asked her what her dreams might be, what she wanted for herself, or for others. Indeed her parents had only agreed to her attending Shiz as a means to an end, namely to improve her marketability and have her be seen in a wider social circle. They hadn't even bothered to enquire what subjects, if any, she was taking, and they certainly never requested a report on what her grades might be like. No, her mother's letters were all about what social connections she was making and what eligible young men she might have met about town, indeed she barely even enquired as to Galinda's health in her monthly epistles.  
  
She looked at the paper again and wondered when things had changed, what had happened to her, how had she become a... a... well a proper student!  She looked over at the threadbare bed opposite her own pink frilled monstrosity and saw the pile of books and parchments that Elphaba had left scattered there before she ran for her morning's first class, and she smiled, filled with warmth and affection. What had happened to her? Quite simply, Elphaba had happened to her, everything had begun to change on that very first day at Shiz, the day she had met Elphaba.  
  
She got up from her seat and went to sit on Elphie's bed, fingering the text book that she and her Emerald Beauty had been reading together the night before. She remembered Elphie's patience as she explained some of the more complex formulas and equations to the confused little blonde. She particularly remembered the praise when she had spotted something that Elphaba herself had missed, but she had not.  
  
Smiling, Galinda tidied the mess on the bed and she sang.....  
  
 _"Everybody needs a teacher, everybody needs a guide._ _  
 _A generous and kindly figure, standing always at their side._  
 _I was on my own, a lonely child, no one to turn to,_  
 _Unwanted, unloved an aggrevation, a burden sent here in desparation._  
 _Who could I turn to before I met her?_  
 _Who could I learn from, desparate to share?_  
 _Elphaba became my teacher! Elphaba became my guide!_  
 _That wise and ever caring figure, standing always at my side._  
 _She brought to my life undreamed of wealth!_  
 _Opened up the world and made me myself!"__  
  
Storing the last book, Galinda picked up her History paper and headed out the door,  never even realising that she hadn't looked in the mirror once before she had left the room. She was meeting Elphie at the Station Cafe for lunch, and she couldn't wait to share her success with her beloved teacher.

 


	3. What Do You Do?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Lurlinemas and Elphie is missing Galinda.

**What Do You Do?**  
Rating:PG ?   
Subject:(musical verse - especially that Elphaba Looks like Idina and Glinda like Kristin)   
Author: XV  
Summery: It’s Lurlinemas and Elphie is missing Galinda

Disclaimer: "These characters are property of L F Baum/ Gregory Maguire" etc. And the song "What Do You Do?" is from the fringe musical "The Ladies", by Sandra Freeman.

_A/N Many years ago I came across a wonderful musical in a fringe Theatre in South London UK, based on the lives of the Ladies of Llangollen, two young women who eloped from Ireland to Wales and made a life together in the early 1800's. I thought several of the songs would be perfect for a little Gelphie fic, you may even consider this a crossover with the musical The Ladies. Sorry that I can't let you in on the tune._

 

 

Elphaba stumbled into the room swathed in several scarves and carrying a huge bag of books. She shook herself to remove the last few flakes of snow stuck to her cloak, and then carefully hung it on the coat-hook with her scarves. Finally she removed her boots and made her way to the desk, where she deposited her bag.

She had spent the day studying in the library until it closed, just as she had the day before and the day before that, in fact just as she had everyday thus far during the Lurlinemas break.  She had tried to study in her room, especially when the snow was coming down heavily, but found that she was unable to concentrate. She found her gaze drawn to the empty pink bed and inevitably she would start to think of Galinda, wondering what she might be doing just at that moment.

They had only declared their mutual affection a little more than a month ago, and they had only become lovers a little over a week previously.  Two days before Galinda had left for home they had snuggled together in one bed because of the cold, and one thing had led to another, and well it had been sweet and gentle and utterly wonderful. But now she was on her own, and all she could think about were golden curls, blue eyes and pink lips.  She wasn’t sure how she was going to manage the next 12 days without her Sweet Galinda.

She went and built up the fire, hoping to take the chill off in the room, and then wrapping herself in Galinda’s frilly pink comforter she sat in the window seat looking out on the snow covered courtyard below. Thinking of Galinda she began to sing.

_What do you do when I’m not there?_

_Where do you go all on your own?_

_Do you sleep well, or lie awake?_

_Is there no one apart from me?_

_Please share with me your absent friend,_

_In a harmony that never ends._

Singing, she didn’t hear the door open behind her, and the subject of her musings enter the room. Galinda silently put her bag down and took her cloak off tossing it on the desk chair. She had on a fashionable green and gold dress with a huge bow at the back, in honour of the season. Still moving quietly she stepped toward the window seat and sang her response.

_What could I do when you’re not there?_

_Where could I go all on my own?_

_Could I sleep well in such a state?_

_There is no one apart from you._

_I dream all day of an absent friend._

_Of a harmony that never ends._

And before Elphaba could untangle herself from the quilt, Galinda sat in her lap and threw her arms around the green girl’s neck, firmly kissing her slightly parted lips. Laying her head against Elphaba’s shoulder they sang together.

_What can we do the two of us?_

_Find a new way to be ourselves._

_For I’m like you, and you’re like me._

_Two lonely souls seeking a home._

“What on earth are you doing here, my Sweet?” Elphaba queried as she stroked the golden locks and held the smaller girl securely in her arms. “Not that I’m complaining it’s wonderful to have you here with me again.”

“Oh Elphie, it was so tedious at home, too many parties filled with insufferable bores and not a real thought or idea between the lot of them. I, well I couldn’t stop thinking about you, the whole time, I swear I haven’t slept a wink since I left.” 

As she nuzzled Elphaba’s neck, she gave a little sigh and shivered ever so lightly. Elphaba resettled Galinda in her lap and wrapped the comforter round them both.

“What’s wrong my Sweet?” she whispered as she gently stroked the smaller girl’s back.

“Oh, I’m just tired.”

Reaching to gently tilt the golden head toward her Elphaba pressed, “Tell me.”

“My mother, well she’s not very pleased with me just now. It started my second day home when she discovered me studying in my room instead of attending the official afternoon Tea at the Mayor’s mansion. She, she, threw all my books out the window and told me to make myself presentable for the coming evening’s party. She never even listened to me try to explain.” Sniffling a little bit she burrowed closer to Elphaba under the comforter.

“What did she do when you told her you were coming back to Shiz before Lurlinemas?”

“I didn’t tell her. I left a letter explaining that I needed to return to use the library to prepare for next term. I left that evening before the party, and so here I am.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here my Sweet. And I’m proud of your studying.” Elphaba soothed as she kissed the top of the golden curls.

Galinda began to kiss the green cheek nearest her lips and then laid a trail of kisses around to an inviting green earlobe where she whispered into the darkening appendage.

“I think you should open your Lurlinemas present early don’t you Elphie?”

“Oh, I do agree my Sweet. And thank you for the most wonderful present I’ve ever had.”

Smiling and with a gleam in her eye, Elphaba began to undo the pale green bow at the back of Galinda’s dress. 

 


	4. One Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elphie struggles with the changes within herself brought on by her new relationship with Galinda.

**One Heart**  
  
Subject: (musical verse - especially that Elphaba Looks like Idina and Glinda like Kristin)  
Author: XV 

Disclaimer: "These characters are property of L F Baum/ Gregory Maguire" etc. And the song "One Heart?" is from the fringe musical "The Ladies", by Sandra Freeman.

_A/N Many years ago I came across a wonderful musical in a fringe Theatre in South London UK, based on the lives of the Ladies of Llangollen, two young women who eloped from Ireland to Wales and made a life together in the early 1800's. I thought several of the songs would be perfect for a little Gelphie fic, you may even consider this a crossover with the musical The Ladies. Sorry that I can't let you in on the tune._

 

Elphaba paced rapidly from one bench to another in the night dimmed courtyard. Her heart was racing and her mind in turmoil. She’d just had a huge fight with Galinda and had finally torn from the room in a desperate attempt to get away from those knowing, sad blue eyes the blonde had turned on her.

“She’s wrong!” she hissed to the damp air. “She’s wrong! Isn’t she?”

Finally losing some of her momentum, she sat on the bench and tried to figure out where the evening had gone so terribly wrong.  It had started out reasonably enough, with the two girls twined together on Elphaba’s bed studying for their economics mid term paper.

As usual Galinda was having difficulties concentrating on some of the more mundane details of the subject. And after a while Elphaba had looked down to see that Galinda had actually fallen asleep curled against her side. She watched enchanted as the girl’s eyelids fluttered and she murmured some nonsense words as she dreamed.  Galinda moved and some of her golden curls tumbled over her face. Elphaba reached over and stroked the hair back, enjoying the silken feel of it running through her fingers.

The movement of her lover’s fingers against her skin woke the blonde girl in a most pleasant manner and she smiled up into the face she adored.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, it’s just that economics is such a tedious subject. Even you, my Emerald Beauty, must admit that.”

“I admit nothing of the sort, my Pretty. Economics is an important tool of oppression that must be thoroughly understood if it is to be fought and made to serve the people rather than rule them.”

The green girl smirked as she tweaked the adorable pink nose so close to her own.

“But, perhaps your dreams were of greater interest to you than professor Klindon’s theories on the economics of the aristocracy’s Noblesse Oblige, eh,  my Sleeping Beauty?”

“Anyone’s dreams would be more interesting than that, even yours my darling Elphie.”

The green girl, stiffened in Galinda’s arms and replied coldly, “I do not dream, silly girl.”

Straightening in the bed so that she could more easily look Elphaba in the eye, Galinda fixed the green girl with a piercing stare.

“My love, even before we became so dear to each other, I used to watch you sleep for hours on end, and believe me when I say, you, my love, do most definitely dream.”

Elphaba sat up and withdrew herself from Galinda’s embrace, her mood darkening with each movement.

“I tell you Galinda, I do not dream. I have never dreamed. It is simply not in me to dream. Is that clear?”

Galinda rose as well, taken aback by her beloved’s coldness, something she hadn’t experienced for many months now. She looked at Elphaba as the girl went to look out the window. Her first instinct was to agree with her love, apologise and set things to rights as quickly as possible. But she thought about this for a minute and decided that it was important for Elphaba to open up to her. After all she loved the green girl with all her heart, and it hurt her when she closed herself off like this. So squaring her shoulders she went over to Elphaba and gently laid her hand on a stiff shoulder.

“My love, I know that sometimes, often even, your dreams seem very troubled, so perhaps, well, perhaps it’s not that you don’t dream, but just that you don’t remember dreaming.”

Elphaba turned and glared at Galinda forcing the girl to take a step back.

“Get this through that thick Gilikinese skull of yours, I do NOT dream!  To dream you must have a soul, and I do NOT have a soul!”

At first all Galinda saw in her lover’s eyes was a red rage, but as she stood her ground and didn’t back away or avert her own gaze, she saw fleeting glimpses of panic and fear in those expressive near black eyes. And she saw, could it be, yes, a slight quiver to the set of that verdant chin. Stepping forward and maintaining eye contact she reached out and laid her hand against the green cheek.

“My love, you do have a soul, if not your own, you have mine.”

Looking into those endless depths of blue, Elphaba gasped as she felt something begin to unravel inside her and before she could stop herself she wrenched away from the blonde girl’s touch. It was more difficult to tear herself from the pull of those beautiful eyes with their compassion and love all directed at her. Desperate for escape she fled the room, without even taking her cloak.

So here she was, sitting shivering on a damp bench with the threat of snow in the air and no covering to keep her dry. She dropped her head in her hands, as she thought how everything was such a mess. Galinda was right about her dreams, both that she had them and that they were troubled and often nightmarish. She remembered the small cupboard she had been made to sleep in when her nightmares had disturbed Nessarose in their shared room. After a while, through sheer will power, she had managed to stop making any noise when she had her dreams. Over time she had convinced herself that she didn’t dream at all anymore, but deep down she knew that this wasn’t true. And now her stiff-necked pride had ruined things with Galinda.

Just as she was thinking how stupid she was, she felt the familiar warmth of her cloak being draped over her shoulders. Galinda let go of the cloak and sat beside her beloved, careful not to touch her, but letting her know she was there.

After a few minutes, a still chilled, green hand reached out and took a small warm hand and pulled the twined fingers into her lap.

“I’m sorry my love, so sorry.” She held the small hand tighter as she explained about herself and dreams and disturbing her sister and its consequences. Galinda pulled her close and stroked her hair as the green girl shivered in her arms. Finally Elphaba sat up and looked at Galinda.

“Sometimes you frighten me so my love. You look at me and I see, a…a real person reflected back in your eyes.”

“Oh my Emerald Beauty of course you see that, you’re the most real person I’ve ever met Elphie.” Galinda said as she pulled Elphaba to her once again.

“Tell me what you hope to see when you look at me Galinda. Please, if you tell me, maybe I’ll be able to see it too.”

Taking Elphaba’s hand Galinda placed it over her heart and held it there as she placed her other hand over Elphaba’s heart, and without hesitation the pale hand on her heart was covered with her own spare hand. 

“I was right about your dreams my love, and I know I’m right about your soul as well. You may not have known you had a soul because it wasn’t whole, just like mine wasn’t, not until I met you anyway.” And looking deep into those troubled emerald eyes she began to sing.

 

_One heart, one mind, one self is what I seek._

_Two halves of one soul, set side by side._

_I think; you speak my words we are so close._

_You hurt; I feel your pain I bleed for you._

_I laugh; yours is the joy to see me smile._

_And yet you leave me free to be myself._

_You do what you must do, and I just watch._

_You will take care of me, and I of you._

_In perfect harmony and equal love._

Hearing the gentle plea from those beloved lips, something inside Elphaba opened finally to her internal vision and she could see it, small and frail but growing in the nourishing glow of Galinda’s love.

Raising her head she smiled and joined her voice with that of her lover’s.

_One heart, one mind, one self is what I seek._

_Two halves of one soul, set side by side._

_Set side by side._

 


	5. Flesh and Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awaiting the Witch Hunters Elphaba is tortured with weakness and uncertainty and Glinda arrives to remind her of a forgotten truth and give her the courage she needs to rise above her past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: "These characters are property of L F Baum/ Gregory Maguire" etc. And the song "Flesh and Blood?" is from the fringe musical "The Ladies", by Sandra Freeman.
> 
> A/N 1 I’ve incorporated some details from the bookverse in this chapter but have morphed the details to my AUverse.
> 
> A/N2 The song from The Ladies is what is sung over the Grimmerie.

Elphaba sat in the stiff high-backed chair at the head of a long dining table, silently watching her guest eat the simple meal that she had prepared herself in her small kitchen. The youngster ate as if this was the first meal she’d had in days, but still managed to make sure that a considerable number of titbits made their way under the table to her furry little guardian.                                      

“So my pet, have you had your fill?”

The green woman’s sudden question brought the girl back to the moment, and with her hunger sated she remembered her manners as well, thanking her host for her hospitality.

“Yes Ma’am. It was wonderful and very kind of you to make it for me, thank you.”

“And your furry companion is he full now too?” Elphaba enquired with just a hint of a smile playing across her lips. She was rewarded with a sharp yip, from said companion, and a happy wag of a somewhat scruffy tail.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She said as she rose from the table and motioned for the girl to follow her into the next room.

This room was a sitting room, with a couple of comfortable chairs, a cheery fire and books lining almost every inch of wall space. It was Elphaba’s true home, and where she spent most of her time, when she wasn’t in the southern turret, or travelling the night skies over Oz, searching for Animals to help. She sat in her usual chair inviting the girl to the one opposite her in front of the fire.

Taking time to study her guest once more, she paused when her eyes reached the silver slippers on the girl’s petite feet. She was surprised to realise that their sight no longer stirred the envy and longing they had so long ago when her father had given them to Nessa, or even more recently when Glinda had gifted them to the girl now in front of her.

With the terrible events of that day and the irreparable repercussions for so many, she had come finally to understand that the shoes only had the power that she herself had given them, power both harmful and helpful. She had embodied the pain of her father’s rejection in the gift given to her sister, allowed it to grow and fester and taunt her every time she saw them. Then she had, in a way, claimed them as her own gift of love to her sister, casting a spell for the benefit and help of someone near and dear to herself rather than for a stranger or for some grand cause. Finally she was able to see them as no more than what they once were, a pretty frippery and nothing else.

The girl, Dorothy, settled in her armchair and looked at the woman opposite her. True her verdant skin was quite startling and even unsettling, but for all that she really was a very handsome woman, indeed Dorothy thought, she is quite beautiful. Before her adventure she would have said that a witch couldn’t be beautiful, but now she had met two such witches, Glinda and Miss Elphaba.

“So, here we are, rested and fed, will you tell me now what has brought you to my home in this wild and far part of Oz?”

The young girl’s face paled and she looked away from her host as she chewed her bottom lip. Elphaba waited patiently sipping from a mug she had brought with her from the table. She wondered if the girl would admit her mission, a mission that Elphaba already felt she knew. She watched as Dorothy continued to struggle with what to say, and thought maybe she should clarify a few things herself first.

“Ahh, but before that, it is perhaps, I that should explain some things to you. Yes? Perhaps as I tell you what I know it will help you decide where to start your own story.”

Dorothy nodded shyly and Elphaba reviewed their interactions to date. She explained that she’d never had anything against Dorothy, that she’d been grieving for Nessarose and only wanted her sister’s slippers, although she didn’t go into too many of the details of why, she was honest enough to say her attachment to the shoes had been less than healthy.  The older woman also explained the recent history of Oz, the attacks on Animals and the Wizard’s corruption as well as Madam Morrible’s role of having caused the tornado that had brought Dorothy to Oz.

“I am sorry Miss Dorothy if I unduly frightened you, it was never my intention to harm you, and I hope I have now proven this to your satisfaction.”

“Yes you have Miss Elphaba. I’m ever so grateful to you for rescuing Toto and me; I truly thought we were both going to drown in that river.” A tear made its way down one cheek and she sniffled as she held back more.

“I didn’t like the Wizard. He was horrid to the Lion; he wouldn’t let him speak at all when we were in the hall. He poked poor Toto for ages trying to see if he could talk, no matter how many times I told him that animals in Kansas just don’t talk. Then when he said we had to kill you if I wanted to get home, I…I just didn’t know what to say, but then the Tin Man dragged us off promising to bring back your broom when the deed was done.” 

Dorothy paused, gathering herself to relate the rest of her tale. Elphaba went back to the table and brought the girl her cup of tea before she retook her seat.

“They couldn’t agree on which route to take, the entire time we were travelling Tin Man and Scarecrow kept bickering and Lion just kept trembling and whimpering unless I petted his paw. It was horrible.” 

Elphaba sighed and murmured something about both of them having always been asses and that hadn’t changed despite their outward transformations.

“How did you and your little friend end up in the river?”

“We were looking for a place to cross, and I’d finally had enough. I told them killing someone was wrong and if the Wizard wanted the witch…” The girl blushed and ducked her head in embarrassment. “I’m sorry Miss Elphaba, I..I didn’t know your name then and that’s what the Tin Man kept calling you.” Elphaba waved her hand dismissing the insult.

“Well Miss Dorothy I am a witch, so it is an accurate description. Although I’m sure Boq put a less than lovely tone to its’ use.” She snorted and gave a wry grin which Dorothy returned, as if they were sharing a mildly annoying joke.

“Anyway I told them if the Wizard wanted you he should send his soldiers to arrest you and not a little girl with no choice in the matter. I said we should find any old broomstick to take back to him and see what would happen. I didn’t think it would really matter you see, I…don’t think he intends to help me anyway.”

Elphaba nodded sadly in agreement, knowing full well that neither the Wizard nor Madame Morrible would allow the girl to leave, most especially if she had succeeded in her mission. She could see the girl’s future in a gilded cage in the Emerald City, trotted out as the great Witch Killer on special occasions and kept away from anyone except their own creatures lest she get any ideas about Oz that were different from the propaganda they wanted her to believe.

“I’m afraid you are very probably correct in that assumption my dear.”

“So, well, I…I refused to go any further and the Scarecrow said fine I should stay there and he and the others would go and kill the...” She blushed once more before continuing. “Anyway, the Tin Man said I had to come, the Wizard had commanded it and there must be a reason for that. They argued for ages and I was tired of petting Lion’s paw and tried to push in between them to get them to stop arguing. We were right beside the river and Tin Man stopped shouting and just looked at me with those strange cold eyes of his and then he pushed me and I tumbled into the water. I was struggling to hold onto Toto and keep my head above water when your monkey…” She stumbled to a halt at Elphaba’s raised eyebrow and stern look, blushing she corrected herself. “I’m sorry. Then Chistery plucked us out of the river and flew us to your castle. I don’t know what happened to the others.” The girl shivered a little at the memory of the icy river and her real fear that she and her beloved pet would not survive the churning waters.

Elphaba looked sadly at the girl, the latest casualty to the Wicked Wizard of Oz and his horrible henchwoman Morrible. She glanced at the clock on the mantel, noting the late hour; she showed the girl into her own bedchamber and began rummaging in her trunk for a clean nightdress which she handed to the girl with a smile.

“This will be quite big on you, but it’s clean and will keep you warm and it’s better than that ragged robe. Your dress will be dry by morning. Get some rest. I’ll be in the library in the south turret.” Feeling the deepening chill of night, she went over and built a small fire in the grate, dusting her hands as she stood straight once more.

“I’ll try and look for some kind of spell that might help you to get home. I have no idea if any such spell exists, but we can at least search for it.”

The young girl sniffled and threw herself at the verdant woman grasping her in a fierce hug as she thanked her for all her help and kindness. When she finally pulled back Elphaba awkwardly patted her shoulder in an attempt at comforting her guest. Dorothy smiled at her and took another step back toward the bed.

“Miss Elphaba you are the only truly good person I’ve met in this strange land.” She cocked her head in thought and then added. “Well, maybe Glinda too, but I still don’t see what these shoes could possibly do for me.” She looked down at the sparkling silver before looking back to her host. “If you have something else I could wear, you should have them now, and they were your sisters after all.”

Elphaba felt a small surge of desire that drained away as swiftly as it had arrived and she shook her head in the negative.

“The offer is kind of you Miss Dorothy, but I am beginning to think it is possible that Glinda had a very good reason to give them to you when she did,” She smirked a little before adding. “Even if she didn’t know what the reason was.” Finishing the comment there was a spark in the dark eyes of the older woman as an idea began to form in her mind. Bidding Dorothy a final good night she took herself off to the great library in the south turret, where she took down several volumes and began to follow the trail of her new thoughts.

Three days later Elphaba looked out over the dark land around the castle. She was in the south turret again following what had appeared to be yet another dead-end in her search for a spell to help the young girl from the far land of Kansas. She hadn’t been out on her usual rounds since Dorothy had arrived and she wondered how many Animals had been in need of her help in that time.  Her shoulders sagged as the weight of all the suffering in Oz once more made itself felt in her heart. She was so very, very tired; all her years of struggle had only managed to save a few hundred talking Animals. Nothing had changed anywhere in Oz, the people still blindly following their corrupt leaders, either not caring or too afraid to speak up. Early on she’d had friends and fellow fighters for reform, but they had all either been killed, disappeared or just given up and gone back to their homes to lead a quiet life.

When she realised she was indeed alone, she’d made the semi ruined castle of Kiamo Ko in the Vinkus her permanent home rather than just an occasional hiding place. Fiyero had told her about it back at Shiz, pointing out one of his ambitions was to rebuild and reinstate his old family seat. He’d come to the castle only a year after she’d escaped from the Emerald City, and been surprised but pleased to find her there. Having found her again he voiced his hope to further explore the deepening friendship they’d had at Shiz and was not happy when his overtures were so firmly rebuffed. 

The time Elphaba had spent alone had only confirmed where she knew her heart truly lay and that was in the gentle grasp of the golden haired Glinda.  While she did not share this most private knowledge with Fiyero, she was firm in telling him that he was not the one for her, nor she for him. Disappointed he’d left, and to his credit had never betrayed her whereabouts to the authorities, a fact that had gained Elphaba’s distant affection and certain gratitude.

 It had been the reason she had so desperately tried to save him when the Gale Force were torturing him. If she’d been able to finish the spell properly she knew he wouldn’t have ended up as the Scarecrow, but the second group of soldiers had arrived when she still had two lines of the spell to recite and she had to flee without uttering them. The spell had spared Fiyero his pain as she’d hoped, but not in the way she had hoped for.

Looking out into the distance once more Elphaba noticed firelight in the far pass leading down to the Vinkus River, very near where Chistery had rescued Dorothy. She went over to a low shelf and took up her spy glass, the one she had spellified many years ago so that it could see all the way to the Emerald City and beyond for many leagues. Returning to the window she held it up to her eye she pointed it toward the pass and allowed it to focus in on the large crowd as they took turns using the few boats they’d brought with them. This time the river would be no barrier between them and their intended quarry.

Sweeping the mob once more Elphaba wryly noted there was no sign of the Lion, but she soon spotted both Tin Man and Scarecrow in the lead. She tapped the lens three times and suddenly the room was filled with sounds that came from the river crossing so many miles away. Men were shouting and wielding their sabres, muskets and diverse other deadly implements as they made their crossing in three shifts. Focusing once more on the two leading figures she heard their voices clearly as they both made plans to destroy her, it appeared that at last, even Fiyero had turned on her. Listening for a few more minutes she heard the Tin Man talking urgently with the commander of the Gale Force.

“Captain, the Wizard’s command was quite clear this time. Not only are you to assist in killing the Wicked Witch, but we are also to kill the foreign girl and her yappy little familiar as well.” 

“But sir, she’s only a child!” The older man tried to protest such a senseless atrocity. The Tin Man grabbed him by his collar and snarled in his face.

“Fool, the girl’s a foreign witch come here at the wicked summoning of the green Demon. Let her live and she’ll be a greater danger than the Wicked Witch herself.”

He pushed the man away toward the path leading into the forested mountain pass. The man apparently accepted this explanation and formed his men up to lead the general mob who had joined the expedition as they left the City. He’d be damned if some street rat hooligan beat him or any of his men to the glory of finally ridding Oz of the malignancy that was the Wicked Witch

Elphaba had heard enough, she tapped the lens twice more and the room was plunged into a brooding silence as she continued to watch the men advance toward her home. Her hands shook slightly as her mind raced to find a safe haven that she and the young girl from Kansas could possibly escape to and she was coming up blank. Her former safe houses were all closed to her now, and she no longer knew Munchkinland as well as she once had. Sighing her shoulders slumped as she decided they would have to flee to the Quadling Country, it was the only place where the Wizard’s control was less than total.

Looking through the spy glass once more to gauge how long she had to gather supplies and get her, Dorothy, Chistery and Toto out of the Castle and on the rough road to the marshes in the south. As she scanned the horizon her attention was suddenly caught by a bright bubble of light moving at great speed through the far pass, but at almost at the same height as the small mountains through which it passed. She focused the lens and stumbled back in shock as she clearly saw the magic bubble with Glinda inside, the beloved face tear stained and straining to harness her magic and keep the bubble moving toward Kiamo Ko.  The spy glass dropped from nerveless fingers, rolling into a far corner as Elphaba turned and fled the room.

 

***

In the years of her separation from the true love of her life, Glinda had remained engaged to Fiyero but had made excuse after excuse to put off actually wedding the Winkie Prince. She knew that her heart was already in the keeping of her Emerald Beauty and she had nothing in its’ place to give to her young suitor. She had offered to release Fiyero from his obligation on several occasions in the past few years but he had always declined claiming he was content to wait till she was ready, and as this suited her well enough, she hadn’t pressed the issue.

Elphaba had been right about Glinda wanting very much to be a part of the pomp and circumstance of the Wizard’s Court but Glinda didn’t think her green love had understood why she wanted to be a part of the power structure in that way. In the beginning she hadn’t realised why herself, but as she grew and developed her skills she knew it was because she wanted to help the people not to lord it over them.

The formerly mediocre student had thrown herself into learning and practicing her magic until she had become quite adept at some very useful and helpful spells. Controlling weather throughout the land to benefit farmers and help increase the food supply as the Wizard had requested, but also discovering and mastering many medical spells helping to heal wounds and sickness. She had stood her ground and firmly declined to use her weather control spells when the Wizard insisted a certain district needed to be punished for harbouring rebels.

Glinda had wanted to travel to all the lands around the Emerald city to use her healing skills but Madame Morrible and the Wizard had insisted that she allow people who needed her skill to come to her, the only exception had been allowing her to regularly visit Nessarose in Munchkinland, where she had become much beloved for her kindness, in such direct opposition to their own Governor’s harshness.

In all the years they had been apart Glinda had yearned to be reunited with Elphaba but had learned how very dangerous it was to cross either the Wizard or Madame Morrible as many of her more outspoken school chums had disappeared or been arrested and one even executed for speaking out in favour of the Animals and against many of the Wizard’s other decrees. She felt she wasn’t brave enough to stand up to them with her limited magical abilities.  Glinda’s lack of obvious bravery hadn’t stopped her from taking some risks and making sure that somehow Elphie was warned when any of the Gale Force were dispatched to different parts of Oz where the green girl had been spotted.

It had been the beginning of the end of her association with the Wizard’s regime when Madame Morrible had stolen one of her spells to do what she, Glinda, had refused to do for the Wizard and caused the disaster of the tornado in Munchkinland. The tender-hearted Glinda had hurried to the disaster site in order to help in any way she could, she didn’t realize that the Wizard had backed up Morrible’s handiwork by dispatching his forces to Munchkinland to hammer home his message.

When she’d met the young girl Dorothy she knew she needed to help her without being seen to be helping her too readily. The demise of Nessarose had been terrible but when she’d seen those silver slippers she could have sworn she heard them whisper her name. She didn’t know how or even why, but she knew she needed to make sure those slippers were given to Dorothy. Elphaba’s enchantment of them appeared to have died with her sister, but they still seemed to hold some residual magic and she instinctively knew that the lost little girl would need that magic.

Elphaba’s sudden arrival had completely thrown Glinda off kilter. It was the first time she had seen her Emerald Beauty in nearly a decade. She had tried to speak with her, to reach out to her, but the green woman had been nearly mad with grief and then fear for Fiyero when he was captured by the Gale Force. Everything became crazy and before Glinda could think what to do, Elphaba had half cast her spell to help Fiyero and then had to flee when the rest of the soldiers arrived and she’d not been able to speak to her again.

Fiyero had emerged as the Scarecrow and at the insisting of Boq, now the Tin Man; they had dragged the young girl from Kansas off to take her to the Emerald City. It was this action that showed Glinda that Boq had been working for the Wizard the whole time he’d been with Nessarose. It made her wonder how many of the so called Wicked Witch of the East’s edicts had truly been hers and how many had originated with the Wizard.

Glinda had returned to the Emerald City herself but had been called out to the Quadling country because of a reported epidemic of Swallow Fever. At the time it had struck her as odd that the Wizard was suddenly encouraging her to travel so far from the city, but her tender heart would not allow her to put off her mission of mercy. She had sped to the marshes and managed to heal the several dozen Quadlings who had succumbed to the pernicious illness.

Her absence from the city had meant she had missed the arrival and first dispatching of the Tin Man and the others to finally eliminate the green thorn in the Wizard’s side. Indeed she had only just arrived back when she saw and heard the Tin Man and the Scarecrow rousing the crowd to come with them to rescue the poor child Dorothy, from the clutches of that green Demon, the Wicked Witch of the West.  Tears had sprung to her eyes at the true hatred in Boq and Fiyero’s voices as they whipped the crowd to a murderous frenzy.

It was the poison of that hatred that finally broke Glinda and she called out to the crowd to rethink their intentions. She shouted from the turret balcony of her rooms in the Wizard’s palace, using a small spell to amplify her voice. She decried all the Wizards lies about Elphaba and enumerated her good works in the years past, but the mobs’ blood was roused and unbeknownst to Glinda, Madame Morrible had cast a counter spell to muffle her own. She watched the mob march through the city gates, dropping to her knees in tears even as the palace guards pounded on her door for entry. For an instant she panicked over what she’d done and when her door burst open she fell into a dead faint, unable to deal with her grief and her now complete disillusionment with the Wizard.

Glinda awoke disoriented and unsure where she was or how long she’d been unconscious. She cracked her eyes open and felt the soft cushions and blankets of a comfortable bed, opening her eyes wider she looked around immediately recognising her own bedchamber. Before she could sit up or look around the stern face of Madame Morrible came into her field of vision.

“Oh you poor dear, you’ve finally awoken from the terrible spell.” The old woman gave what she thought was a kindly smile but looked more like a horrible grimace.

Glinda sat up and rubbed her head in confusion.

“Spell? I was under a spell? What happened?”

“That green manifestorium of wickedness cast a control spell on you my dear.”

Glinda looked at her uncertainly; her memories were slipping back quickly, the tornado, the girl from Kansas, Elphie, the Tin Man and the mob. That was it, she’d spoken out against the wizard and it hadn’t worked, she wasn’t strong enough, the mob had left the city intent on murdering her beloved Elphaba. She’d fainted, yes that was it. She looked at the terrible woman beside her bed.

“What happened? What did I do?” She swung her legs shakily over the side of the bed.

“You needn’t worry my dear, no harm was done by the spell. The palace guard got to you in time and found you crumpled on the balcony. Obviously your marvellous braverism exerted itself over the spell but proved too much for your physical strength and you fainted. You’ve been unconscionable now for two days.”

Standing on wobbly legs the blonde haired witch moved away from Morrible’s offer of help and began to pace her room hoping to regain her strength. As she paced she started to plan, she had been lucky that the Wizard thought she’d been enchanted to speak out against him and didn’t know that it had been her own decision. Now she needed to figure out how to best use that luck to help Elphaba. Her step faltered when it struck her she didn’t know if Elphaba was still alive to need help. She needed information before she could decide what to do. Saying a prayer to the Unnamed God she faced Morrible.

“Indeed, it was a most dreadful ordeal Madame Morrible. The only thing I remember was watching those gallant and brave lads heading out to face the danger of confronting the witch in her lair. Tell me Madame have they returned triumphant as they surely should?”

The older woman’s face was open and she gushed her reply not realizing its’ effect on her singular audience.

“Indeed they are brave men all, but they have yet to return, I do believe the verdant villain’s lair is at least three days march from the city my dear. Have no fear Glinda; the Wizard has seen their success in his crystal. Many will perish, but good will triumph in the end my dear.”

The news that there was still a chance for her to do something, to help her love had a new found energy and strength seeping through her body and her pace quickened slightly before she brought herself in check and deliberately slowed her steps. Turning back to her bed she sat down heavily as if physical exhaustion had once more overtaken her delicate frame.

“Indeed as you say, Good will triumph no doubt.” Giving an affected sigh and fluttering her hand over her heart she continued.

“I am very relieved that I didn’t do anything dreadful while under that most uncomfortable spell. But I’m afraid it has still left me very weak, I think I will try to rest more if you don’t mind Madame.”

Morrible looked at the young woman closely trying to sense any kind of deception but dismissed her own concern as a phantom. Glinda had been firmly in the Wizard’s pocket for nearly a decade, and she didn’t think the empty-headed blonde had the conviction to follow through with any plan she’d ever made. Bidding her a goodnight she left the room making sure the two palace guards were instructed to inform her if Glinda should leave the room during the night.

As soon as the horrible Morrible had left her, Glinda sat up and went to quickly wash and change her clothes. Feeling much more herself after she’d changed she went out to her balcony watching the other towers of the palace she didn’t see any extra sentries or sense anyone watching her rooms.

“I’m coming Elphie, hold out my love, I’m coming.” She gripped her wand and whispered the spell to create her bubble, her heart thudded and she focussed out into the dark wild night as she lifted off from the balcony.

Glinda was now travelling at speeds she had never even dreamed of before, but still she urged her magic bubble to move faster and faster, fear and desperation enhancing her magic to new heights.  She passed over the heads of the mob that had left the Emerald City two days before, so intent on their hunt they never noticed the bubble speeding past them and into the distance. And still she tried for more speed, she had to get to Elphie, to her love, this time she would not fail her, and she wouldn’t let Elphaba fail herself either; this time she would be strong and they would finally be together as they should have been all along.

 

***

Elphaba ran down the many steps of the tower across the long parapet and over the pitted gangway into her kitchen and on into her bedchamber calling out Dorothy’s name to wake the girl.  When she finally lit the taper on the candle beside the bed the girl was sitting up, eyes wide with fear and looking at Elphaba for explanation.

“I’m so sorry my dear, but we must flee, the Tin Man and Scarecrow are returning with the Gale Force and a mob from the Emerald City. My magic isn’t sufficient to fend them off, or to protect you here. We must get out and head to Quadling country. Quickly now, here’s your dress it’s damp but it will have to do. Hurry, I’m going to gather some food.”  She left the room and Dorothy scrambled to dress as quickly as possible while Toto bounced on the bed yipping frenziedly in excitement.

Elphaba flew into the kitchen and grabbed a large satchel into which shoved various utensils and foodstuffs for their journey. She concentrated on her task, not allowing her mind to stray to the final thing she’d seen through the spy glass, that way laid madness.  Stumbling against a chair she cursed loudly and a burst of desperate anger blasted the chair into cinders. 

Elphaba stared at the ashes in astonishment, her powers hadn’t broken the bounds of her iron will in over seven years. It caused her to pause and try to calm and centre herself, she needed to focus. If she could get them out of the castle before Glinda arrived; then her love wouldn’t be compromised when the mob arrived, she would be able to claim she’d come to help them. Glinda must be protected, Dorothy must be protected and she just didn’t know if she had the strength to do all she needed to do, against her own will her body started to slow, the task of packing was draining her as if she’d just run a league in ten minutes. Finished in the kitchen she stumbled into her sitting room as Dorothy burst in from the bedroom, Toto scrambling around her ankles.

“I gathered some of the blankets Miss Elphaba and some clothes. I hope they’re the right ones.” She patted the larger satchel slung over her shoulder and Elphaba praised her presence of mind. Elphaba had tried to find Chistery but it appeared he was away from the castle as he often was in the late evening. Needing to leave a message that he would understand but others wouldn’t, she grabbed a lump of coal and began scrawling on the walls of the sitting room, kitchen and bedroom.

 _Fly!! Fly!! Find the Turtle with the shell._

Finishing the last word the last time she fervently hoped the monkey would understand that she was headed for Quadling country hopefully to find shelter with the Quadling, Turtle Heart, her brother Shell’s lover.

The green woman had only one more thing she needed to gather before they could make good their escape and she turned to her desk to gather up the Grimmerie only to realise with a sinking heart that she’d left it in the library.

“Damn and blast the Unnamed God!! Miss Dorothy, come with me, we must get the Grimmerie and then we must leave as soon as possible.” Leaving through the kitchen with Dorothy in tow, she grabbed her broomstick from the corner and hurried through the exit toward the southern turret.

Elphaba burst through the door of the library frantically looking for the book of magic on one of the many reading tables strewn with books until she finally spotted the tome on the window seat in the far wall. She had just put her hand to the worn leather spine when Dorothy let out a squeak of surprise and called out that beloved name.

“Glinda!”

Elphaba spun around to the balcony entrance and there she was, resplendent in a gown of white silk and gold brocade, a vision of beauty and love and the green woman’s heart nearly leapt out of her ribcage in the presence of its’ one true mistress. The bubble around her dissipated and Glinda stepped forward into the room her eyes on Elphaba, gaze unwavering against the onslaught of the scowl on her love’s face.

“Are you insane Glinda? Did you not see the mob of murderers below you as you flew? You must leave, leave now!”

Elphaba hissed out in angry tones, even as every fibre of her being wanted to pull the blonde beauty into her arms and never let her go again. She deepened her scowl and held her hand up to stop the advancing woman before both their attentions were redirected to the open window from which they could clearly make out the bounding of wood on wood in the courtyard far below them.

Elphaba hurried to the window and looked down to see the men below wielding a huge tree trunk and battering at the worn wooden doors of the castle’s main entrance. Heart sinking she whirled into the room once more and grabbed hold of Dorothy’s arm as she spoke the spell of levitation over the broom. When the incantation was complete she straddled the broom and pulled Dorothy on in front of her before turning to Glinda.

“That door won’t hold them more than a minute Glinda, I have to go and I must take the girl with me, the Wizard has ordered that she be killed for failing in her mission to kill me. Please my love, please save yourself and flee!”

The broom began to rise with its’ two riders holding tightly to the handle when Glinda stood tall and proud and shouted out her own commanding incantation. She didn’t know where the words were coming from, or even what they meant, she only knew they must be said. Her voice rose further and as the last word rent itself from her lips Elphaba and Dorothy came crashing down to the floor the broomstick broken into many pieces lay under them.

Glinda rushed forward and helped Dorothy stand up and then reached out to help Elphaba only to have her hand batted angrily aside as the green woman remained on the floor too tired and heart sick to battle any longer. She didn’t know why Glinda had stopped their escape, but the broom destroyed she couldn’t think how they were to escape now without compromising Glinda as an accomplice, and that she swore to herself she would not do. Shrugging the heavy satchel off her shoulders she flung it to the side paying no attention as the Grimmerie tumbled to the floor beside her feet.  Hugging her legs to her chest she rested her head on her knees muttering forlorn recriminations at Glinda all the while.

Taken aback by this defeated and subdued version of her long ago lover Glinda inched forward just as she heard the mighty crash below them and the shouts of triumph as the soldiers and townsmen poured through the broken gateway. At the sound she tugged on the woman’s arm as she exhorted her to rise, not even realising that her words came out in song rather than speech.

 “ _Elphaba stand up! Stand up!”_

Elphaba wearily pulled her arm away and replied in a defeat.

_“I can’t, I can’t!”_

Glinda refused to accept Elphaba’s answer and knelt beside her pulling her face up to look into her eyes.

_“Tell them what we want and what we must have.”_

Tears began to leak from those dark eyes, stinging their way down the green cheeks and pooling in Glinda’s cupped hands as she wailed her anguish in song.

_“I can’t, I can’t!”_

Angry and desperate now, Glinda shook her shoulders trying to reach that brave and noble heart she knew was still there inside the tired and despairing form.

_“Stand up and fight. Fight for the right!”_

Elphaba reached up and gently but firmly removed the blonde’s hands from her face as she whispered in resignation.

_“Glinda don’t ask too much.”_

She kissed one of Glinda’s palms and continued her song of despair.

_“We’re only flesh and blood, don’t aim too high._

_We must not make demands we can’t fulfil._

_We make mistakes, betray our friends._

_We break our word, deny what’s true._

_Shut off ourselves from those we love._

_Cut of our nose to spite our face._

_We’re only flesh and blood, that’s all no more._

_So if you ask too much, we’re bound to fail.”_

A surge of anger lent Glinda strength and she rose to her feet dragging Elphaba with her until they stood facing each other, hands clasped, and the Grimmerie tumbled open on the floor beneath their joined fingers. She poured out her own hope and firm belief in the power of love and time; offering a life line to Elphaba if she would but take it. Her voice rose, sweet and true and full of a wonderful power.

 

_“We’re more than flesh and blood, we have a mind._

_Our spirits will go on, when all else fails._

_We can decide to go beyond our failing limbs, our body’s needs._

_Our souls stay firm throughout our pain._

_Transcends our fear and gives us strength.”_

 

Looking into the beloved face of her Emerald Beauty, Glinda willed the woman to take up the challenge, to accept her love and to return it in full measure as she had done so very long ago. Elphaba returned the look and from somewhere deep inside her warmth began to spread. It moved out through her chest, down through her legs, along her arms and when it reached her fingertips where they were held by Glinda, it erupted from them in a glowing green and gold ball of light.

Busily trying to barricade the door with as much furniture as she could move, Dorothy blinked and dropped the chair she was carrying when the flash of green and gold broke into the dimly lit room. Her attention redirected to the two women holding hands, she watched in fascination as the glowing orb engulfed their hands, their arms and then their bodies. Unfamiliar with magic even after the many things she’d seen in this strange land, she gasped once more when she noticed the great leather bound volume Elphaba had called the Grimmerie begin to rise from the floor and glow even brighter in multiple shades of green.

The glow around the floating book, which had risen to hover over the women’s clasped hands, pulsed rapidly and seemed to increase in intensity as Elphaba at last joined her voice with that of Glinda and they sang the verse of hope and triumph together.

 

_“We’re more than flesh and blood, we have a mind._

_Our spirits will go on, when all else fails._

_We can decide to go beyond our failing limbs, our body’s needs._

_Our souls stay firm throughout our pain._

_Transcends our fear and gives us strength.”_

 

When the two voices rose to the verses crescendo, chaos broke lose in the south turret of Kiamo Ko castle.  On the word, ‘ _strength’_ the mob of witch hunters broke through the door of the library scattering and splintering the chairs and tables that Dorothy had managed to push in front of the entrance. The young girl grabbed her dog and fled to the balcony desperate to somehow stay away from the frightening men, but unable to flee any further. Turning from the dizzying drop to the courtyard below she screamed when she looked into the room and saw the Tin Man raising his axe to strike the two women down.

Elphaba and Glinda seemed oblivious to the riot going on around them as they continued to look into each other’s eyes, feeling their shared love envelope them in the aura of green and gold power. Smiling at each other they repeated the final line of the song, almost as if it were an incantation, only now they shouted it at the top of their lungs, the words roaring through the small space like canon fire.

 

**_“WE’RE MORE THAN FLESH AND BLOOD!”_ **

 

On the final word both women moved forward and kissed each other with the full force of their passion and love one for the other. Clasped in each other’s arms they felt the bubble of green and gold energy buckle and burst in a shockwave of power that exploded from the Grimmerie outward in radiating pulses of multihued shades of green and gold.

On the balcony, Dorothy watched with equal parts horror and relief as the waves of colour smashed through the Tin Man, Scarecrow and other men in the room disintegrating them into what looked like sparkling, powdery ash before that too disappeared. She clasped Toto to her chest as she felt the shockwave race outward toward the balcony too frightened to call out in her terror of being similarly vaporised. The girl gasped as the first hint of green rolled over her and it felt like a summer breeze spreading warmth all over her body she swayed in the power of the rolling energy waves; only opening one eye when it became apparent to her that she hadn’t been blasted into a million tiny stars.

Toto yipped and licked her face and Dorothy watched in awe as the two witches continued in their embrace and kiss, cut off from the outside word by the glow of the Grimmerie. She turned and looked out into the night sky seeing the green and gold waves rolling out over the whole land moving at incredible speed.  She continued to watch until all she could see was haze of gold on the far horizon at which point she turned her attention back to the two women inside.

Glinda and Elphaba pulled back, each taking in great gulps of air as they looked dazedly into each other’s eyes. A green hand reached up and brushed back one of the golden locks that had been swept down over Glinda’s forehead and then she stepped back a little further the better to take in all of her beloved’s form.

Elphaba blinked in surprise as the great book of spells thudded to the floor between her and Glinda, causing them both to jump in surprise and finally look around them. Taking in the caved in door and splintered furniture they tensed as they looked around for the expected attackers, only to find no one but the girl Dorothy gingerly returning from the balcony.

“Miss Elphaba, Miss Glinda, are you, um, are you both well?” She timidly enquired as she re-entered the room but kept her distance a little from the two confused women. Glinda was the first to answer and Elphaba the first to question.

“Yes my dear, I think we’re both fine, I mean I am certainly, and you Elphie?” She touched the green woman’s elbow in question and Elphaba nodded her head even as she addressed the young girl.

“What happened? Where are the witch hunters? Where are Fiyero and Boq?”

Dorothy encouraged the two women over to the stone ledge of the window seat as the rest of the furniture in the room was nothing but splinters over by the broken doorway. Once they were settled, Dorothy cross legged on the floor, she described what had just happened, including the tidal wave of energy that had spread out over the countryside around them. At the end of the tale, Elphaba went and picked up the Grimmerie where it had settled on the debris littered floor. Cradling it reverently she could still feel the residual warmth and power emanating from the closed book.

The two women began to discuss what might have happened and given the demise of their enemies but not their ally in the immediate zone of the magical blast, they tried to surmise what the result might have been farther afield. They were in deep discussion when all three were interrupted by a sharp yip from Toto and a soft cough from the balcony occurring at the same time.  The group looked up to see Chistery standing in the balcony doorway nervously scratching behind one ear as he coughed again and took a step further into the room.

“Miss Elphaba? What did you do? How did you work such deep magic after all these years?”

Elphaba jumped up and rushed to her old friend in amazement. 

“You can speak again! Oh Chistery, I’m so happy for you.” She unabashedly pulled the man-sized monkey into a firm and joyful embrace before finally stepping back and asking how he’d regained the power of speech.

“I should say that you know more about that than I do Miss Elphaba, you are the witch after all.” He nodded toward the book she still held in her hand.

“It was the Grimmerie. It must have been. But how? I’ve pored over its’ pages for almost a decade looking for a way to bring back the power of speech to those Animals who had lost it and found nothing. So how did it happen now? Why did it happen?” She looked down at the well-worn leather tome on her lap in confusion.

Glinda reached over and took her hand, lacing their fingers together and letting them rest on top of the book of magic.

“You were right Elphie. All those years ago you were right. We did this, together, it couldn’t have happened until we worked our magic together.” She smiled into her love’s beautiful dark eyes.

“Unlimited.” Elphaba whispered in awe.

“Together, we’re unlimited.” Glinda smiled joyfully as she agreed and bent her head until their foreheads rested against each other. They were together, as they should always have been. She had succeeded, she had made good for her past mistakes, and she had helped Elphaba to do the same.

 

 

 

 


	6. Dreamers Dream On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> United at last Elphaba and Glinda look forward to their new life together in a Wizardless Oz.

Elphaba stood at the great double windows looking out onto the crowded square below the palace. The sun had risen mere moments before and already every available space in the streets and squares around what had been the Wizard’s Palace and was now the residence of the new ruler of Oz, her own sweet Glinda the Good, was filled with people and Animals waiting for the grand coronation of their new Ozma.

 

The tall and beautiful woman turned back into the bedroom and went over to the huge bed, sitting gently on the side of the figure still comfortably ensconced there. She watched her dearest love slumber on, one smooth pink shoulder showing above the coverlet.  Reaching over she stroked the tumble of golden curls away from her beloved’s face and bent down to whisper a kiss over her forehead and then the delicate shell of her ear.

 

“Rise and shine my Love, time to wear your pretty new frock and jewels and dazzle the general populous.” 

 

She grinned as her lover squirmed down under the blankets and mumbled that Elphaba should go away and turn the lights out on her way. The green skinned woman rocked back laughing heartily at her lover’s antics and proceeded to prod and poke the lump under the covers until she found a particularly ticklish spot and Glinda erupted from the bedclothes with a shriek so loud it caused Elphaba to tumble onto the floor in surprise.

 

“Elphie you’re a beast! Stop poking me, I’ll be black and blue at this rate and I’ll clash terribly with my coronation robes.”  Her attempt at irritation faltered when she ended her diatribe with a fit of the giggles upon seeing her lover sprawled on the floor beside the bed, obviously contented with her position as she smiled brightly up at Glinda.

 

They’d been back in the Emerald City for a little over three weeks now and they had been avid to make up for all the time lost during their separation. The days had been taken up with matters of state and dealing with the aftermath of the magical tsunami that had washed over the whole Land of Oz The nights on the other hand had been given over to just the two of them as they re-established all the aspects of their love for one another; soul, mind and, Glinda shivered in remembered pleasure, definitely body.

Looking down at her chuckling partner her heart swelled with love for the happiness she could see on the green face she so loved. It was her true and honest belief that her Emerald Beauty was truly, deeply, happy for the first time in her life and Glinda revelled in seeing it and being a large part of the cause of that happiness as well.

 

Later that morning, bathed and dressed in her beautiful new gown, Glinda sat quietly at her dressing table, contemplating recent and soon to occur events with a sense of wonder and deep fulfilment. The magical details still left her breathless when she thought about them.

 

After the events in the library of Kiamo Ko, Elphaba, Dorothy, she and the winged monkey Chistery had made their way cautiously through the wilds of the Vinkus and into the more settled lands nearer the city. As they travelled they were met by friendly people and Animals whose speech had returned to them. It was almost as if all the petty, negative and hurtful people had suddenly disappeared from the land. As they neared the Wizard’s stronghold they stayed off the main roads and travelled only at night, but as they learned once they’d entered the city, they needn’t have bothered.

 

They had entered the unmanned gates to the news that both the Wizard and Madame Morrible had disappeared in a blast of green and gold energy as they had been haranguing the crowd from the palace’s great balcony.  One eye witness had described the exact same multi-coloured ash that Dorothy had mentioned when describing the demise of the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.

 

After a few streets, someone had recognised Glinda and called out to their fellows who all rushed to meet her. A few had reared back in fear when they recognised the Witch of the West, but as their numbers were bolstered by returned Animals and those who had been hiding and helping them, she too had been welcomed into the city with praise and rejoicing.

 

They’d discovered that all of the Wizard’s chief henchmen, secret police and spies had suffered the same fate as their master. Others, who had been part of his government if not centrally involved in his worst decrees and actions, had fled the city of their own volition and no one knew exactly where they’d gone to, so they were forgotten for the time being. 

 

The two witches discovered that the people of Oz, many of whom began to show up in the city to find out what was happening in the Capital and to find out if other parts of Oz had experienced the same magic, had decided that they should be the new rulers of the land. Try as they did to decline the offer, Elphaba had finally been convinced that someone needed to be in charge and it might as well be her and Glinda, for a time at least.

 

Things had rather gathered momentum from there and a council of notables and the governors of the lands surrounding the city had been convened. Their considered deliberations had resulted in an official invitation being tendered to Glinda to become the Ozma, ruler of all the lands of Oz with Elphaba as her Consort and Grand Vizier of Magic.

 

In between meetings about these matters of state, Glinda and Elphaba had searched throughout the Wizard’s library and personal effects for any means by which they could return Dorothy to her own land. It wasn’t until the previous evening that Elphaba had finally found a very old and weathered scrap of parchment tucked away in a far corner of the library that held out a glimmer of hope for the young girl and her pet.  When the two witches had told her yesterday about the plan to get her home, Dorothy had asked if they might hold off trying it until after Glinda was crowned as the Ozma and they’d agreed to hold off till after the ceremony.

 

Glinda made a few last touches to her makeup before she straightened her shoulders and stood up, determined to go and meet her destiny.  Glancing in the mirror she smiled as Elphaba came up behind her stopping to gently touch the sleeve of her dress.

 

Glinda took a deep breath as she turned to look at her love in her new and very impressive robes of state. Still decked out predominantly in black, she wore an emerald green, scholastic style robe with large slit sleeves over her dress. Glinda felt it made her look very distinguished, Elphaba felt it made her look like a Lurlinmas decoration, but grudgingly wore it anyway just to please Glinda. Smiling up at her love, her Consort she took Elphaba’s elbow and they exited the room together.

 

Several hours later, Glinda, with her dainty but beautiful crown topping her golden curls, Elphaba, Dorothy, Toto, Chistery and a restored Dr Dillimun stepped out onto the great balcony of the Palace.  The crowds roared their approval for ages until Glinda finally raised her wand on high to ask for their attention and silence.

 

“My fellow Ozians, I thank you for the great honour you have bestowed upon me and upon my Consort, Elphaba the Third Thropp Descending and Grand Vizier of Magic.” She paused as she glanced sideways, noting Elphaba’s frown and discomfort and hurried on with the rest of her speech, before she finally motioned for Dorothy to step forward.

 

“It is no secret to anyone here or indeed in the entire Land of Oz that this new age was born from pure and powerful magic. Magic that, while Elphaba and I were its’ instruments, comes from the deepest and oldest history of this land. We promise only ever to use this power for the good of the Land and all its’ inhabitants and never for the benefit of only a few.” Again she waited for the roaring crowd to die down.

 

“And we will begin our intended programme of reform and restitution for the ills perpetrated by the Wizard, by attempting to help Miss Dorothy Gale and her companion Toto to return to their own far away land of Kansas.”

 

Glinda stepped back and Elphaba moved to her side as they motioned Dorothy forward. The young girl couldn’t stop herself and she flung herself at Elphaba squeezing her in a hearty hug before turning to give Glinda a more restrained embrace.

 

“Miss Dorothy, I truly hope that this will work. I knew there was a reason Glinda felt impelled to give you Nessarose’s slippers. I thought my father had, had them made especially for my sister, I was wrong.”  Elphaba brought out the scrap of paper she’d found in the library and read what was written on it.

 

“Clogs of purest silver, a pound weight each, I will fashion and enchant to carry me wither I wish to go, the key will be the thought as light as the shoes that will set me on my hidden path.”  She finished and smiled at the young girl before her.

 

“That was written nearly 200 years ago by Aleda the Great Witch of Quox, and Glinda and I believe it is describing the very shoes on your feet right now.”

 

Dorothy looked down at her feet and the shiny silver slippers she had continued to wear as Elphaba had suggested.

 

“But how do I use them to get home Miss Elphaba. Despite what many of the Ozians believe, I’m really not a witch. How can I work magic?” She looked up beseechingly at the two women.

 

“The key will be the thought.” Elphaba repeated as she pointed at the scrap of parchment.  Glinda stepped closer and bent to whisper in Dorothy’s ear.

 

“Hold tight to Toto my dear. You have dreamed a dream, but you must not give up on your dream of hearth and home and loved ones.” She waved her wand over the girl’s head. “Now close your eyes and think of home, if your thoughts wander, or you start to think of Oz and your adventures here, just keep saying, _‘There’s no place like home.’_ To bring you back to the thoughts you need.”

 

Stepping back she and Elphaba quietly started the mantra for her and Dorothy took it up repeating it again and again.

 

“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…”

 

Dorothy began to fidget and her concentration was faltering when her twitching feet clicked her heels together, once, twice and then a third time. The third happened just as she spoke the word, ‘home’ and in flash of silver light, she and Toto disappeared from the balcony, never to be seen again.

 

The crowd cheered once more at this display of magical power by their new Ozma and it took a while for them to quieten down before Glinda could continue.

 

“We both, Elphaba and I, pledge to all Ozians, human, and Animal that we will do our very best to heal the wounds that the Wicked Wizard carved into our beloved land. We will need your help and good will to achieve this and know that we can count on both. You must not give up, we must all dream a better Oz into being, a land of dreams.” Glinda smiled and held out her hand and Elphaba who grasped it and came up close to her side where the green skinned woman bent and kissed her love’s pink cheek just before Glinda turned back to the crowd.

 

“A land fit for lovers.”  With that statement she and Elphaba began to sing.

 

_“Dreamers dream on, sweet dreamers dream on._

_Lovers love on, sweet lovers love on._

_Never give up, you must not give up._

_When all seems lost, it’s never all lost._

_When all seems lost, it’s never all lost._

_If you believe steadfastly, it will come true._

_It’s bound to come true.”_

 

The crowd below them took up the song and the notes of love and hope rose into the Ozian sky as citizens and rulers all sang together.

 

_Dreamers dream on, sweet dreamers dream on._

_Lovers love on, sweet lovers love on._

_Never give up, you must not give up._

_When All seems lost, it’s never all lost._

_When all seems lost, it’s never all lost._

 

**_When all seems lost, it’s never all lost._ **


End file.
